Trim the excess fat and silver skin off the top of the brisket. Also, remove any “hard” pieced of fat as they will not render off during the cooking process. Trim the fat off the bottom of the brisket only leaving ¼ in fat.

Apply Holy Cow to meat side of the brisket. Then come back across it with some of our Holy Gospel. I apply these rubs in a 70\30 Holy Cow to Holy Gospel manner. Allow the meat to sweat our for at least 15 minutes. Flip over to the fat side and repeat the process. Be sure to cover all sides as well.

Place the brisket in the smoker fat-side up ... this is my preference, but highly debated in the barbecue world. Meat up\Fat-down is also just fine. Many comp cooks prefer fat down for presentation reasons.

When the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 (the bark will be set nicely by this point) wrap the brisket in non-waxed butcher paper or aluminum foil. Aluminum foil is a bit easier to master and will deliver a juicy, delicious brisket. Butcher paper will allow you to maintain your bark better but can be a bit trickier to master.

Continue to smoke the brisket until the meat is “probe tender” which means when you probe it in the flat there is no resistance. Think of sticking a toothpick in a cake. No resistance. Each piece of meat is different but this will likely be around an internal temperature of 203°F.

Remove the brisket from the smoker, and place in a cooler for at least one hour. This will allow the juices to re-distribute in the meat. A brisket can safely rest in an insulated cooler for several hours.